7 of Brooklyn’s Best Coffeeshops

This Bushwick stop may have homemade almond milk, killer avo toast, and brews from NYC roaster Spectrum Coffees (which sources its beans from Kenya, Honduras, Costa Rica), but unlike some other specialty shops in the borough, it lacks try-hard pretension. Located on Dekalb Ave, the spacious, airy cafe hides behind a flower box-lined terrace; inside, there’s a bar-lined window, shareable wooden tables, communal games (think: Connect Four and Bananagrams) and walls decorated with local art for sale. Word on the street is their latte art is on-point, and their seasonal Golden Milk—likened to gingerbread milk—isn’t to be missed.

Brooklyn Roasting Company checks a lot of boxes for BK’s most discerning coffee drinkers. With fair trade, organic, Rainforest Alliance-approved beans from Guatemala, Ethiopia, Colombia, Peru, and more, the local roaster is as artisanal as it gets. Though BRC has 9 cafes/outposts and a state-of-the-art production facility in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, we suggest you drop by their industrial Jay Street DUMBO location for communal work tables, comfy couches, and a relaxed loft space. If you’ve yet to try nitro cold brew—a velvety, nitrogen-infused version of cold brew—give their’s a go.

RELATED: The World's Coolest Coffeeshops

Just steps from the Franklin C train, on the eastern border of Bed-Stuy, lies Daily Press Coffee, one of the neighborhood’s most frequented caffeine haunts. Pop into the storefront—whose enormous windows are emblazoned with “French Press & Espresso Bar”—and you’ll find an airy, red brick cafe with wooden tables and a hand-written menu. On the counter, a small glass case houses Belgian waffles, cheddar and chive biscuits, and almond croissants. When it comes to drinks, beyond cold brew, cappuccinos, cortados, and locally-sourced Irving Farm's drip coffee, the shop has seasonal pours like maple, gingerbread, and golden tumeric lattes. PS: They also have a second, larger outpost in Ocean Hill, we just love the ambiance of their Bed-Stuy shop.

Succulents, houseplants, and indie mags line the geometric shelves of this Australian-inspired cafe on Metropolitan Ave in Williamsburg. Pair a flat white, affogato, or cold brew with a brekkie bun, avo smash, or  co-yo (vegan coconut milk yogurt acai bowl) and cozy up to a repurposed milk crate table. Once you’ve finished off the last of your snacks, it’s worth browsing the shop’s merch; you’ll find “death before decaf” tees, hand-poured, BK-made soy wax candles, "cool beans" dad caps, and the like. 

RELATED: NYC's Best Coffee (In Our Humble Opinion)

Devoción may have two locations in Brooklyn (one forthcoming), but the heart of its operations are in Colombia. Sourcing beans from some of the country’s most inaccessible regions (providing a fair-trade wage for sustainable growers in the process), the shop’s coffee is dry milled in Bogota and then shipped to the USA so quickly that "the cup you hold in your hands still breathes the mists of the Colombian campo.” At their industrial Grand Street location, you’ll find raw steel, glass doors, and recessed doorways that show off the brick building’s history, as well as a BTS view of their roasters at work. After finishing your South American cup and heading home, pop onto their site for expert brew guides on how to best utilize an aero press, pour over, moka pot, and French press so you can feed your next caffeine fix if you're in a pinch.

Jonesing for a Scandinavian cup of coffee? (Certainly someone is—right?) Then you’ll want to head to BÚÐIN—Icelandic for "the shop," and pronounced “booth-in,” if you were wondering—in historic Greenpoint. The Nordic-style coffeeshop/craft beer and wine bar/cutting-edge retail shop features a fancy lil Modbar espresso system, beans from Sweden, Finland, and beyond, and hygge-meets-minimalist design. Check out their events schedule and you may also find a movie screening or tarot reading. 

“Big city coffee. Small town service” is the promise Manhattanville Coffee delivers on at its two locations in West Harlem and Crown Heights. Swing by their light-filled BK space for espresso con panna, nitro cold brew, and Intelligentsia Coffee (PS: all baristas are trained at Intelligentsia’s coffee lab to ensure quality). And while you’re at it, why not add a cranberry and cream de cassis scone or artisanal sandwich to your order? Don’t worry—you can nap off your food coma on one of their well-loved leather sofas.